Friday, December 01, 2006

Too Hard On Themselves? The View From D.C.The Fixing Failing Schools session was long...and intriguing. But not at all surprising. All day we heard that 1) Testing is exposing the weakness of our poorest schools, but2) Sanctions are being applied infrequently and N.C.L.B. public choice is rarely chosen.3) The biggest positive effects may come from the Supplemental Services portion of the bill. But that too is unevenly available across the districts.

Well, this problem took 100 years to build, and five years is a bit of a short time to turn it around. Especially with fundamental union opposition. Still, every other profession has improved itself using metrics, and this one will too, in its own sweet, and perhaps painfully long time.

If you oppose national government testing, why, jump right in here and help build a movement for a more sane approach to education metrics.